Bead tray

ABSTRACT

A disclosed bead tray for holding and sorting beads includes a tray with a contoured bottom surface for orientating beads and guiding the beads from the tray onto a track. The track is disposed between side surfaces that are angled away from the track. The side surfaces are angled such that an end of a string is guided upward toward the track and into an opening of a bead within the track.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No.62/278,039 which was filed on Jan. 13, 2016.

BACKGROUND

This disclosure generally relates to method and device for threadingbeads onto a string or thread for creating a beaded item.

Beads are sometimes threaded onto a string or thread to createbracelets, or other beaded items and jewelry. In some instances it isnecessary to thread multiple beads onto a single strand of string,thread, wire or elastic. Threading beads onto a string can be tediousand time consuming. Holding a bead in one hand and guiding a stringthrough an opening in the bead with the other takes time, dexterity andpatience. In some instances, the time taken to thread beads onto stringcan detract from the initial excitement and interest in making thebeaded item. Moreover, beads are relative small items that can bedifficult to organize and maintain in a way that both eases assembly andprevents errant misplacement of beads.

SUMMARY

A disclosed bead tray for holding and sorting beads includes a tray witha contoured bottom surface for orientating beads and guiding the beadsfrom the tray onto a track. The track is disposed between side surfacesthat are angled away from the track. The side surfaces are angled suchthat an end of a string is guided upward toward the track. The trackincludes depth to set an opening in the bead into alignment with a topof the track and the side surface such that the end of the string isguided upward along the side surface and into the opening of the bead.

Accordingly, the disclosed bead tray aids the task of threading a stringonto a bead to improve the experience of creating a beaded item.

These and other features disclosed herein can be best understood fromthe following specification and drawings, the following of which is abrief description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of an example bead tray embodiment.

FIG. 2A is a front view of an example bead.

FIG. 2B is a side view of the example bead.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the example bead tray.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a bead within a track portion of theexample bead tray.

FIG. 5 is a top view of the example bead tray.

FIG. 6 is front view of the example bead tray.

FIG. 7A is a schematic view of first step in a disclosed method ofinserting a string into a bead.

FIG. 7B is a schematic view of another step in a disclosed method ofinserting a string into a bead.

FIG. 7C is a schematic view of yet another step in a disclosed method ofinserting a string into a bead.

FIG. 7D is a schematic view of an additional step in a disclosed methodof inserting a string into a bead.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a bead sorting tray 10 is schematically illustratedand includes a tray portion 12 for holding beads 16 and a loadingportion 14. The tray 12 includes a bin 26 for holding a plurality ofbeads 16. The bin 26 leads to the loader 14. The loader 14 includes atrack portion 34 where beads 16 are fed from the bin 26 and aligned foreasy threading of a thread, string or other elongated membersschematically illustrated at 15. The track 34 provides for the bead 16to be aligned and orientated such that openings through the bead 16 aredisposed transverse to the track 34 to provide for easy threading. Thebin 26 includes a bottom surface 28 that is contoured to direct thebeads into the track 34.

The disclosed embodiment is a single unitary structure and the term“portion” is used to indicate parts of the disclosed embodiment. Itshould be understood that it is specifically with the contemplation ofthis disclosure that the disclosed bead tray could be made as a singlestructure or from any different structures and parts jointed together.

Referring to FIGS. 2A and 2B with continued reference to FIG. 1, each ofthe beads 16 includes an outer diameter 18, an inner diameter 24 and awidth 20. Each of the beads 16 also includes a thickness 22 between theouter diameter 18 and the inner diameter 24.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4 with continued reference to FIG. 1, theexample track 34 includes a profile that aligns the inner diameter 24with side surface 38 of the loading portion 14. The track 34 includes abottom surface 42 that is contoured to hold the bead 16 in an uprightposition as is illustrated in FIG. 3. The side surfaces 38 are angled toalign the string member 15 with the inner diameter 24 of each of thebeads 16. In this example, the track 34 includes a width 46 and a depth44. The depth 44 and width 46 work in concert to align the beads 16 suchthat the inner diameter 24 is substantially aligned with the sides 38.

The example track 34 is angled downwardly at an angle 32 such that thebeads 16 will roll down the track 24 against an end lip 36. The bin 26includes the bottom surface 28 that directs the beads 16 into the loader14. The loader 14 includes the track 34 angled downwardly at the angle32 such that the beads 16 are directed into the track 34 and orientatedrelative to the side surfaces 38.

The example tray track 34 includes the width 46 and the depth 44 thatproperly aligns bead 16 of a given size with the sides 38 such that theinner diameter 24 is aligned with the sides 38. However, the width 46,depth 44, bottom surface profile 42 and angle 32 can be tailored toaccommodate any size of beads 16.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6 with continued reference to FIGS. 1-4, theexample bead tray 10 includes the bin 28 that includes a bottom surface28. The bottom surface 28 includes contours 30 a, 30 b, 30 c that directthe beads into the track 34. The contours 30 a-c are arranged to directbeads into the tracks 34 in a manner such that they are orientated in anupright manner. In other words, each of the beads 16 are orientated suchthat the inner diameter or opening through each of the beads 16 extendsacross the track 34. Moreover, the beads 16 are orientated such that theouter diameter allows them to roll downward through the track 34 and bestopped against the lip 36.

Referring to FIG. 6 with continued reference to FIG. 3, the exampleloader portion 14 includes the track 34 with angled side surfaces 38.The angled side surfaces 38 are disposed at an angle indicated at 40that provides for the easy installation or threading of a thread stringor other elongated member through the inner diameter of a bead supportedwithin the track 34.

Referring to FIG. 7A-7D, the side surfaces 38 provide for alignment ofthe string or thread material with the inner diameter 24 of a bead 16.In this example, an end of a thread 15 is directed towards the loaderportion 14 and impacts the side surface 38 as is illustrated in FIG. 7B.The angle 40 of the side surface 38 orientates the threaded member 15such that it proceeds upward along the side surface 38 towards the bead16 within the track 34. The angle 38 is provided such that the thread 15guides along the side surface 38 and is directed into the inner diameter24 of the bead 16 as is shown in FIG. 7C. Accordingly, the threadedmember 15 will extend through the inner diameter 24 of the bead 16 asshown in FIG. 7D and enable the bead 16 to be removed from the track 34,where another bead 16 is loaded into place for assembly onto the thread15.

Accordingly, the example bead tray provides not only for organization ofthe beads but also eases assembly and the creation of a beaded item.

Although an example embodiment has been disclosed, a worker of ordinaryskill in this art would recognize that certain modifications would comewithin the scope of this disclosure. For that reason, the followingclaims should be studied to determine the scope and content of thisinvention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device for holding and sorting beads, thedevice comprising: a tray portion including a contoured surface fororientating beads for exiting the tray portion; and a track portionreceiving beads from the tray and positioning the received beadsrelative to a guiding surface of the tray such that a string may beguided into an opening of a bead within the track.
 2. The device asrecited in claim 1, wherein the guiding surface comprises guidingsurfaces on either side of the track, the guiding surfaces angledrelative to a bead supported within the track for guiding the stringinto the opening defined within the bead.
 3. The device as recited inclaim 2, wherein the track includes a bottom surface disposed at a depthfrom a top of the guiding surfaces, the depth defining the position ofthe opening relative to the guiding surfaces.
 4. The device as recitedin claim 3, wherein the bottom surface includes a profile that alignsthe bead opening within the track.
 5. The device as recited in claim 4,wherein the track includes a width that corresponds to a width of asingle bead disposed within the track.
 6. The device as recited in claim2, wherein guiding surfaces slope downwardly away from the track at anangle, the angle that guides an end of a string upward to the track. 7.The device as recited in claim 2, wherein the track is angled downwardlyaway from the tray such that beads move toward an end of the track. 8.The device as recited in claim 1, wherein the both the tray and trackare disposed at a common angle to move beads from the tray into thetrack.
 9. A method of loading beads onto a string to aid in creating anitem from beads including an outer diameter and a through opening, themethod comprising: defining a contoured surface of a holding bin to feedat least one bead into a track in a desired orientation, and definingside surfaces of the track to include an angle for guiding a string intoan opening of a bead disposed within the track.
 10. The method asrecited in claim 9, including defining the side surfaces to extenddownward from the track at an angle determined to guide a thread to thetrack.
 11. The method as recited in claim 10, including defining theholding bin and the track to slope downward toward a lip in the track tofacilitated movement of beads within the holding bin toward the lip. 12.The method as recited in claim 11, including defining the track toinclude a depth that aligns the through opening of a bead with a topsurface of the track and side surfaces.
 13. The method as recited inclaim 12, including defining the depth to align a bottom portion of thethrough opening with the top surface of the track and side surfaces. 14.The method as recited in claim 12, including defining the track toinclude a length for aligning a plurality of beads for assembly to astring guided along the side surfaces.
 15. The method as recited inclaim 9, including guiding an end of a string along the side surfaceinto the opening of the at least one bead.
 16. A method of assembling astring onto a bead having an outer diameter and a through opening, themethod comprising: loading a plurality of similar sized beads into a binof a tray, wherein the tray includes a bottom surface contoured todirect beads within the tray toward a track; aligning beads from thetray onto a track, wherein the track includes a profile that maintainsthe beads in an upright orientation with the through opening disposedtransverse to a length of the track; guiding an end of a string along aside surface of the track toward a top surface of the track; andinserting the end of the string through a through opening of a beaddisposed within the track.
 17. The method as recited in claim 16,including orientating the bead within the track such that a bottom ofthe through opening is aligned with the top surface of the track. 18.The method as recited in claim 16, including angling the side surfacesuch that upon contact of the end of the string with the side surface,the end of the string is guided upward toward the track.